172 Quotes by Elmore Leonard

Really, when I write a book I’m the only one I have to please. That’s the beauty of writing a book instead of a screenplay.

Never use the words ‘suddenly’ or ‘all hell broke loose.’

I’ll give you something else to think about. Not very long ago he shot and killed a man and did it deliberately, at close range. What I’m saying is he intended to kill the guy and he did.” Again the silence before Chip said, “Come on, he told you that?” “I felt it in his hand,” Dawn said. “The one that held the gun.

I started out of course with Hemingway when I learned how to write. Until I realized Hemingway doesn’t have a sense of humor. He never has anything funny in his stories.

I won’t read a book that starts with a description of the weather. I don’t read books over 300 pages, though I’ll make an exception for Don Delillo.

I want the reader to know what’s going on. So there’s never a mystery in my books.

I’m not going to write for posterity. I’m going to write to make a buck.

What is it with you and Nazis?” “They fun to watch,” Ordell said. “Look at the flag they got, with the boogied-up lightning flash on it. You can’t tell if it’s suppose to be SS or Captain Marvel.

You never know what somebody might tell you,′ Chris said, ’when they think you’re somebody else.